Star Formation in Southern Bok Globules

In order to investigate the formation of stars independent of violent environmental effects we surveyed a large sample of 128 small and opaque southern Bok globules at 1.2 mm continuum with SIMBA at SEST. In addition, most of these globules were and will yet be observed at 10 µm by TIMMI2 and in the far-infrared (FIR) regime by SIRTF. According to the association with IRAS sources, the sample has been divided into FIR-loud and FIR-quiet objects. Preliminary results for 36 FIR-loud sources suggest different classes of globules as witnessed by their ratio of bolometric luminosity to gas mass and — as a consequence — by the number and mass of embedded objects. At least nine FIR-quiet globules show signs of fragmentation and seem to be at the border of gravitational instability. The present study indicates that about 75% of the FIR-loud and 30% of the FIR-quiet globules do actively form stars.